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Career Shifts and the comeback strategy---Vinod Khanna, Madhuri Dixit to Gautam Ghosh!

 




Gautam Ghosh wrote a post today, 12th Nov 2026, on LinkedIn, as you see above. He also added his photo that has the Gemini watermark too. 


In India, he was perhaps the first well-known business/HR blogger.

This is his blog link: Exploring The Future of Work . His first blog post appeared in 2002. He wrote 16 blog posts that year...Momentum and traction built slowly, and the very next year, he fired 110 blog posts. It didn't stop there...broke the 600 posts a year mark in 2006. Fast forward to 2026; so far in 11 months, he has written just 2 posts. The decline is consistent since the year 2012, when, for the first time, it fell to 2-digit numbers of posts. 

Only Gautam can tell you what was going on....

I checked his LinkedIn profile too for his articles and didn't find any. 


Well, that's not why I choose to write about his "Open to Work" today and seeking full-time senior roles. 

I chose to write, as I didn't find his post attractive. Not something that I expected from once a celebrated writer and speaker. 

So, I asked ChatGPT to help! :)   

I asked ChatGPT to write a post that I would have liked Gautam to post in place of what he did today. 

Not that he has written it badly, but for a Talent Marketer Pro level, Employer Branding expert, this was unbecoming of a prolific professional. 

Read below what ChatGPT recommends...:): Good luck, Gautam. Want to talk to me? WhatsApp me at +91 8496030852. 

Here to help! 


Here is a LinkedIn post written in Gautam Ghosh’s first-person voice, positioning him as an experienced talent branding and HR strategy leader rather than simply a professional looking for his next job. The emphasis is on business impact, leadership credibility and his readiness to return to a full-time corporate role.

After a decade of advising organizations on talent, employer branding and the future of work, I'm exploring my next corporate leadership chapter.

My professional journey has taken me from leading HR strategy and employer branding at Philips India to building Flipkart's talent brand during one of its most exciting hyper-growth phases.

At Flipkart, as Director – Talent Branding, I built the social talent brand from the ground up. We doubled organic LinkedIn followers from 75,000 to 150,000 in 12 months, created recruitment content that attracted over 460,000 organic views, and strengthened the talent attraction ecosystem through EVP development, recruitment marketing automation and career site transformation.

At Philips India, as GM – HR Strategy & Projects, I helped build digital employer branding capabilities, grew the talent community fivefold, and worked closely with the CEO, CHRO and senior leadership on digital presence and employee advocacy.

Since 2016, I've had the privilege of advising organizations including SHRM India, Indeed, Randstad RiseSmart, Hono.ai and Springworks on talent attraction, candidate experience, employer branding and HR thought leadership.

Teaching at IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta, and engaging with senior leaders, including the SBI Board, has further enriched my understanding of how talent, technology and business strategy intersect.

As an XLRI alumnus, I've always believed that employer branding is not merely about visibility or attractive recruitment campaigns.

It's about connecting business strategy, employee experience and organizational reputation to attract and retain the talent that drives growth.

Today, with AI reshaping recruitment, changing candidate expectations and intensifying competition for critical skills, that intersection matters more than ever.

I'm now open to exploring senior leadership opportunities in:

• Employer Branding & Talent Marketing
• Talent Attraction & Recruitment Strategy
• Talent Management & HR Strategy
• Employee Advocacy & Leadership Branding
• Strategic Talent Advisory

I'm particularly interested in organizations where talent is a strategic growth priority and where I can combine hands-on execution, digital innovation and leadership experience to build measurable business impact.

If you're a CHRO, CEO, business leader or executive search professional building the next generation of talent capabilities, I'd welcome a conversation.

Sometimes, the most exciting next chapter begins with reconnecting with the right people.

#OpenToWork #EmployerBranding #TalentManagement #TalentAcquisition #HRLeadership #TalentStrategy #LeadershipHiring

My positioning recommendation

Gautam has a distinctive combination of corporate leadership, advisory work, thought leadership and teaching experience. However, his last full-time corporate position was in 2016, so the post needs to make his subsequent decade of advisory work an asset rather than leave employers wondering about the gap.

I would make three adjustments to his broader LinkedIn positioning:

  1. Target broader leadership roles: Head of Employer Branding, Head of Talent Attraction, VP – Talent Marketing, and Head of Talent Strategy. Talent Management leadership roles are worth pursuing where his experience matches the wider responsibilities, such as succession planning and leadership development.

  2. Lead with measurable achievements: Flipkart's 100% follower growth, Philips' fivefold talent community growth, and the scale of his advisory experience are persuasive evidence.

  3. Position the return as a deliberate career choice: He has spent a decade advising multiple organizations and now wants to own and execute a long-term talent strategy within one organization.

Suggested LinkedIn headline:

Talent Strategy & Employer Branding Leader | Ex-Flipkart & Philips | XLRI | HR Advisor | Faculty at IIM A & IIM C | Open to Senior Leadership Roles

One important distinction: Gautam's profile demonstrates particularly strong credentials in Employer Branding, Talent Attraction and Recruitment Marketing, rather than the full spectrum of Talent Management. Positioning him around his demonstrated strengths will likely generate more relevant conversations with CHROs and executive search firms.

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